Sunday 4 February 2024

Today is Sunday the 4th of February, beginning the fifth week of Ordinary time.

Paul Zach sings, ‘Sorrow’s Got A Hold On Me’.

Sorrow's got a hold on me
The shadow is all I see
Weighed down, no I can't break free
Sorrow's got a hold on me
Waters sweeping over me
Helpless, and I'm in too deep
The flood is overwhelming me
Waters sweeping over me
O Christ come near
Come near to this broken heart of mine
To this broken heart of mine
Thunder coming down on me
Howling, and the wind it screams
This storm will blow away with me
Thunder coming down on me
O Christ come near
Come near to this broken heart of mine
To this broken heart of mine
In the silence of despairing
In the waking in the night
In the watching and the waiting
Stay here by my side
In the silence of despairing
In the waking in the night
In the watching and the waiting
Stay here by my side
Lord Jesus, come and weep with me
Oh, come and weep with me, oh Lord
Lord Jesus, come and wait with me
Come and wait with me, oh Lord
Come near




Today’s reading is from the prophet Job.

Job 7: 1-4, 6-7

‘Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a labourer?
Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like labourers who look for their wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down I say, “When shall I rise?”
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.
‘Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.

I wonder how easy it is to listen to this passage? As someone of faith, what is your response to the affirmation that sometimes life has no meaning? Should we not be people of joy?

‘Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a labourer?’

There must be people who might have voiced these feelings today. Scripture echoes what it means to be human. Perhaps this is how you are feeling. How does it feel to imagine that life is just hard labour?

‘Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like labourers who look for their wages…’

What does it mean to feel that you just ‘live to work’, without enjoyment or purpose? To simply put one foot in front of the other until the day is done, until life is done?

‘My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.’

Is this an experience of a life of faith? Job has faith but has seemingly run out of hope.

How might Job's lamentation speak to your relationship with God. Have you ever questioned or lamented in times of difficulty? How do you respond to God in times of despair?

‘Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.’

Unlike Job's spiralling lamentation, Ignatian spirituality encourages deliberately seeking moments of gratitude and hope especially in challenging circumstances.

Can you identify where there have been moments of grace or unexpected blessings in the midst of suffering in your own life? Or even in the ordinariness of the everyday?

On this Sabbath day, accept the invitation to release those burdens and embrace the healing power of love. Love that elevates us out of despair, so that we can share God's grace in the world. Take time to share these feelings with the Lord.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.